Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 June 2013
181. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there was an increase on a national basis in the number of persons apprehended on suspicion of having committed public order offences during the recent spell of good weather compared with other periods of good weather in previous summers. [29857/13]
View answerI am informed by the Garda authorities that Operation Irene is a Regional Operational Plan which commenced in the Dublin Metropolitan Region on 1 June, 2013 and will continue until the 31 August, 2013. The operation incorporates a range of policing actions to be implemented at identified "hot-spots", which with the advent of milder weather, longer evenings and school holidays, may experience an upsurge in anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol consumption. This is a targeted operation to combat under-age alcohol consumption and consumption of alcohol in public spaces throughout the Dublin Metropolitan Region through the enforcement of legislation regulating the sale, supply and consumption of alcohol as well as relevant public order legislation.
The Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose.
I have requested the CSO to provide statistics directly to the Deputy.
